Electronic apparatus, wireless communication method and computer-readable medium for defining an acquisition manner of an unlicensed band resource

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to an electronic apparatus, a wireless communication method and a computer-readable medium. According to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus for wireless communication comprises: a processing circuit configured to: determine whether a first user equipment satisfies a condition for performing direct link communication with a second user equipment by using an unlicensed frequency band resource; and if the condition is satisfied, control the first user equipment to perform direct link communication with the second user equipment by using the unlicensed frequency band resource.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/962,852, filed Jul. 17, 2020, which is based on PCT filingPCT/CN2019/085496, filed May 5, 2019, which claims priority to CN201810443767.X, filed May 10, 2018, the entire contents of each areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of wirelesscommunications, and in particular to an electronic device for wirelesscommunication, a wireless communication method, and a computer readablemedium.

BACKGROUND

Proximity service in LTE (Long Term Evolution) mainly includesdevice-to-device (D2D) discovery and D2D communication. In addition,UE-to-Network Relay is involved in LTE Rel-13. That is, a user equipmentmay serve as a relay to provide service to an edge user equipment,thereby improving performance of the edge user equipment.

In the case of UE-to-Network relay, a relay user equipment (relay UE) ora remote user equipment (remote UE) acquires a licensed band resourcespecified in a specific radio resource control (RRC) message or fromsystem information, so as to perform communication and discovery.

SUMMARY

A brief summary of embodiments of the present disclosure is given in thefollowing, so as to provide basic understanding on some aspects of thepresent disclosure. It should be understood that, the summary is not anexhaustive summary of the present disclosure. The summary is neitherintended to determine key or important parts of the present disclosure,nor intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. An object ofthe summary is to provide some concepts in a simplified form, aspreamble of a detailed description later.

An electronic device for wireless communication is provided according toan embodiment. The electronic device includes processing circuitry. Theprocessing circuitry is configured to: determine whether a first userequipment satisfies a condition for performing a sidelink communicationwith a second user equipment using an unlicensed band resource; andcontrol the first user equipment to perform the sidelink communicationwith the second user equipment using the unlicensed band resource if thecondition is satisfied.

A wireless communication method is provided according to anotherembodiment. The method includes: determining whether a first userequipment satisfies a condition for performing a sidelink communicationwith a second user equipment using unlicensed band resource; andcontrolling the first user equipment to perform the sidelinkcommunication with the second user equipment using the unlicensed bandresource if the condition is satisfied.

An electronic device for wireless communication is provided according toanother embodiment. The electronic device includes processing circuitry.The processing circuitry is configured to: control a first userequipment to perform a sidelink communication with a second userequipment using unlicensed band resource; and perform control totransmit information indicating Maximum Channel Occupancy Time (MCOT) ofunlicensed band resource occupied by the first user equipment to thesecond user equipment, to share the MCOT with the second user equipment.

A wireless communication method is provided according to anotherembodiment. The method includes: controlling a first user equipment toperform sidelink communication with a second user equipment usingunlicensed band resource; and transmitting information indicating MCOTof unlicensed band resource occupied by the first user equipment to thesecond user equipment, to share the MCOT with the second user equipment.

An electronic device for wireless communication is provided according toanother embodiment. The electronic device includes processing circuitry.The processing circuitry is configured to: perform control to transmitindication information to a user equipment. The indication informationindicates an acquisition manner of unlicensed band resource used for asidelink communication of the user equipment. Alternatively, theindication information indicates the unlicensed band resource.

A wireless communication method is provided according to anotherembodiment. The method includes: transmitting indication information toa user equipment. The indication information indicates an acquisitionmanner of unlicensed band resource used for a sidelink communication ofthe user equipment. Alternatively, the indication information indicatesthe unlicensed band resource.

A computer readable medium is provided according to another embodiment.The computer readable medium includes executable instructions that, whenexecuted by an information processing apparatus, cause the informationprocessing apparatus to execute the method according to the aboveembodiments.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, unlicensed resources canbe used on a sidelink. Further, service quality for a user can beimproved and interference to an apparatus adopting non-3GPP techniquescan be reduced by setting a condition for using unlicensed resources bya UE.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure may be understood better with reference to thedetailed description given below in conjunction with the drawings.Throughout all the drawings, the same or similar reference numeralsindicate the same or similar components. The drawings together with thefollowing detailed description are included in the specification andform a part of the specification, so as to illustrate preferredembodiments of the present disclosure by examples and explain principlesand advantages of the present disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device for wireless communication according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device for wireless communication according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process example of a wirelesscommunication method according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device for wireless communication according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process example of a wirelesscommunication method according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of anelectronic device for wireless communication according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process example of a wirelesscommunication method according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an exemplary structure of a computerthat implements methods and devices according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of asmartphone to which technology according to the present disclosure maybe applied;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a basestation to which the technology according to the present disclosure maybe applied;

FIGS. 11A to 11C are schematic diagrams for explaining examples ofapplication scenarios of embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 shows a process for using an unlicensed resource according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 13 shows a process for configuring an unlicensed resource accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 14 shows a process for configuring an unlicensed resource accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 15 shows a process for using an unlicensed resource according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 16 shows a process for using an unlicensed resource according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 17 shows a process for using an unlicensed resource according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 18 shows a process for configuring an unlicensed resource accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 19 shows a process for configuring an unlicensed resource accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 20 shows a process for using an unlicensed resource according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 21 shows a process for using an unlicensed resource according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 22 shows a process for configuring an unlicensed resource accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 23 shows a process for configuring an unlicensed resource accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 24 shows a process for configuring an unlicensed resource accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram for explaining selection of an unlicensedresource based on a zone;

FIG. 26 shows a process for using an unlicensed resource according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 27 shows an example process for sharing MCOT according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 28 shows an example process for sharing MCOT according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 29 shows an example process for sharing MCOT according to anexemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 30 shows an example process for sharing MCOT according to anexemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with referenceto the drawings. Elements and features described in one of the drawingsor one embodiment of the present disclosure may be combined withelements and features described in one or more other drawings orembodiments. It should be noted that representations and descriptions ofcomponents and processing which are irrelevant to the present disclosureor known by those skilled in the art are omitted in the drawings and thespecification for clarity.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic device 100 for wireless communicationaccording to this embodiment includes processing circuitry 110. Theprocessing circuitry 110, for example, may be implemented as a specificchip, a chipset, a central processing unit (CPU) or the like.

The processing circuitry 110 includes a determination unit 111 and acontrol unit 113. It should be noted that although the determinationunit 111 and the control unit 113 are shown in a form of functionalblocks in the drawings, it should be understood that functions of unitsmay be implemented by the processing circuitry as a whole, and may benot necessarily implemented by discrete actual components in theprocessing circuitry. In addition, although the processing circuitry isshown as a box in the drawings, the electronic device may includemultiple processing circuitry, and the functions of the units may bedistributed into the multiple processing circuitry, so that the multipleprocessing circuitry cooperates to implement these functions.

The determination unit 111 is configured to determine whether a firstuser equipment satisfies a condition for performing a sidelinkcommunication with a second user equipment using an unlicensed bandresource.

According to an embodiment, the condition is related to one or more ofthe followings: a service priority of the sidelink communication to beperformed; a current link quality between the first user equipment andthe second user equipment; the number of failures of Listen Before Talkperformed by the first user equipment and/or the second user equipmentpreviously with respect to the unlicensed band resource; a battery levelof the first user equipment and/or the second user equipment; and adelay generated in the course of a base station transmittinginformation, which is to be forwarded by a delay UE of the first userequipment and the second user equipment to a remote UE of the first userequipment and the second user equipment, to the delay UE of the firstuser equipment and the second user equipment.

In an example, in the above condition, the service priority may includeProSe Per-Packet Priority (PPPP). The link quality may include ReferenceSignal Receiving Power (RSRP). The number of failures may include thenumber of subframes for which Listen Before Talk fails within a previoustime window having a predetermined length. The delay may include a delaycaused by the base station performing Listen Before Talk (LBT) withrespect to the unlicensed band resource used for transmitting theinformation.

Before using an unlicensed sub-resource, a UE is required to performLBT, resulting in increase in energy consumption of the UE, and delaymay be increased due to failure of LBT. In this embodiment, before theunlicensed resource is selected, it is determined whether to select theunlicensed resource based on current link quality, the battery level,data service priority, and a cumulative number of failures of LBT, inorder to ensure service quality for the UE.

More specifically, in a case where the relay UE or remote UE selects anunlicensed resource from a resource pool, the condition for using theunlicensed resource by the relay UE or the remote UE may include thefollowings:

(1) In a case where a data service priority (PPPP) level of sidelink isat a certain level or the required delay is less than a threshold, therelay UE or remote UE directly selects a licensed resource, otherwisethe UE is allowed to select the unlicensed resource.

(2) In a case where link quality (RSRP) of a current link is less than athreshold, the relay UE or remote UE directly uses the licensedresource.

(3) In a case where the relay UE or remote UE counts the accumulatednumber of subframes for which LBT fails within a previous time windowand determines that the accumulated number is greater than a threshold,the relay UE or remote UE directly selects the licensed resource.

(4) In a case where a current battery level of the relay UE or remote UEis lower than a threshold, the relay UE or remote UE directly uses thelicensed resource.

(5) In a case where the eNB transmits data related to sidelink to therelay UE using the unlicensed resource, and the delay caused by thefailure of LBT performed by the eNB is greater than a threshold, the eNBinstructs the relay UE to directly use the licensed resource. The relayUE directly selects the licensed resource, so as to avoid excessivedelay generated in an entire forwarding process.

The control unit 113 is configured to control the first user equipmentto perform the sidelink communication with the second user equipmentusing the unlicensed band resource in a case where the determinationunit 111 determines that the above condition is satisfied.

FIGS. 11A to 11C show scenarios for using an unlicensed band in FeD2D(further enhanced D2D) as application examples of embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

In a unidirectional scenario as shown in FIG. 11A, the relay UE and theremote UE both are in an in-coverage (IC) state, and the remote UE mayuse the unlicensed resource in sidelink communication and sidelinkdiscovery.

In a bidirectional scenario as shown in FIG. 11B, the relay UE and theremote UE both are in the IC state, the relay UE may use the unlicensedresource in sidelink communication and sidelink discovery, and theremote UE may use the unlicensed resource in sidelink communication andsidelink discovery.

In a bidirectional scenario as shown in FIG. 11C, the relay UE is in theIC state, the remote UE is in an out-of-coverage (OOC) state, the relayUE may use the unlicensed resource in sidelink communication andsidelink discovery, and the remote UE may use the unlicensed resource insidelink communication and sidelink discovery.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay UE and the remoteUE are configured to perform sidelink communication using an unlicensedband for different scenarios and different states of the UE.Specifically, manners for allocating a resource may include, forexample, a manner of eNB direct allocation, a manner of eNB in-directallocation, a manner of relay UE assisted allocation, and a manner of UEautonomous allocation, and a manner of shared MCOT. Next, exemplaryembodiments are described with respect to the above aspects.

It should be noted that the unlicensed band resource used for sidelinkcommunication described in the embodiments of the present disclosure mayinclude an unlicensed band resource used for sidelink communication, ormay include an unlicensed band resource used for sidelink discovery.

According to an embodiment, the determination unit 111 is furtherconfigured to determine an acquisition manner of the unlicensed bandresource according to indication information from the base station. Theacquisition manner includes specifying the unlicensed band resource bythe base station, or selecting the unlicensed band resource by a userequipment from a configured resource pool or a resource pool list.

More specifically, the indication information may be, for example,included in radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In addition, theconfigured resource pool or resource pool list may be, for example,indicated by the RRC signaling or a system information block (SIB).

In addition, according to an embodiment, the determination unit 111 isfurther configured to determine the unlicensed band resource used forthe sidelink communication according to indication information from thebase station.

More specifically, the indication information may be transmitted througha physical downlink control channel PDCCH. In addition, resource poolinformation used for the sidelink discovery may be acquired through theRRC signaling and the SIB.

Next, an exemplary embodiment in which a base station allocates anunlicensed band resource is described with reference to specificexamples.

In a case where the UE is connected to the RRC (RRC_CONNECTED)established by a primary cell, signaling from the base station may beconfigured as, for example, RRC→sl-commconfig→commTxResources→scheduled.In this case, the relay UE or remote UE may acquire DCI format 5 byblindly detecting the PDCCH, so as to acquire a resource used totransmit the PSCCH and PSSCH on the sidelink. In this case, a processfor using the unlicensed resource is shown in FIG. 12.

First, in a case where the relay UE or remote UE is configured with anunlicensed resource in the RRC signaling, the relay UE or remote UEmonitors PDCCH DCI 5B to obtain configuration of the unlicensedresource.

Then, according to the configuration of the unlicensed resource, therelay UE or remote UE performs LBT to access the unlicensed resource.

Ina case where the cumulative number of times that the relay UE orremote UE fails to access the allocated unlicensed resource is greaterthan a threshold, the relay UE or remote UE directly requests for alicensed resource to perform the sidelink communication. Otherwise, therelay UE or remote UE occupies the unlicensed band to perform thecommunication.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed may be added in RRC, as shownin Table

TABLE 1 Fields added in RCC Field Description SLUnlicensed indicatingwhether unlicensed resource can be used on Sidelink, 1 bitsl-subframeUnli subframe scheduled in semi-static schedulingSL-ConfigUnli sidelink unlicensed resource configuration IESL-ConfigCommUnli sidelink communication procedure unlicensed resourceconfiguration IE SL-ConfigDiscUnli sidelink discovery procedureunlicensed resource configuration IE

Further, fields included in SL-ConfigUnli IE may be for example as shownin Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Fields included in SL-ConfigUnli IE New field Description andvalue Carrier indicator indicating cross-carrier scheduling, 0 bit or 3bits PSSCH starting position indicating a position of a starting symbolfor PSSCH, 2 bits PSSCH ending symbol 0 indicating the last symbol of asubframe; and 1 indicating the penultimate symbol of the subframe, 1 bitChannel Access Type type of channel access priority, 1 bit ChannelAccess Priority Class class of channel access priority, 2 bits, {1, 2,3, 4} MaxnumberofsubframesSL maximum number of subframes for which LBTfails, 2 bits

In addition, the relay UE or remote UE may acquire the configuration ofthe unlicensed resource, for example, by monitoring PDCCH DCI format 5B.A field of SCI format 0A may be added in the PDCCH DCI format 5B, toindicate the configuration of an unlicensed resource pool forcommunication data on the sidelink.

In an example, PSCCH SCI 0A\2A and PDCCH DCI 5B\5C may be added.

SCI 0A is newly added to indicate configuration information of theunlicensed resource pool. SCI 0A is based on SCI 0, and the newly addedfields are used to indicate configuration of the unlicensed resourceused by the PSSCH, including carrier indicator, starting and endingsymbols, a type of channel access and a class of channel accesspriority.

Newly added fields in SCI 0A based on SCI 0 are shown in Table 3 below.

TABLE 3 Fields configuration for SCI 0A Field Description and valueCarrier indicator indicating cross-carrier scheduling, 0 bit or 3 bitsPSSCH starting position indicating a position of a starting symbol forPSSCH, 2 bits PSSCH ending symbol 0 indicating the last symbol of asubframe; and 1 indicating the penultimate symbol of the subframe, 1 bitChannel Access Type type of channel access priority, 1 bit ChannelAccess Priority Class class of channel access priority, 2 bits, {1, 2,3, 4} MaxnumberofsubframesSL maximum number of subframes for which LBTfails, 2 bits

SCI 2A is newly added to indicate the configuration information of theunlicensed resource pool. This field is used to indicate theconfiguration information of an unlicensed resource configured by therelay UE for the remote UE to transmit a PSSCH resource. SCI 2A is basedon SCI 0, and newly added fields are used to indicate configuration ofan unlicensed resource used by PSSCH, including carrier indicator,starting and ending symbols, a type of channel access and a class ofchannel access priority.

Newly added fields in SCI 2A based on SCI 0 are shown in Table 4 below.

TABLE 4 Fields configuration for SCI 2A Field Description and valueCarrier indicator indicating cross-carrier scheduling, 0 bit or 3 bitsPSSCH starting position indicating a position of a starting symbol forPSSCH, 2 bits PSSCH ending symbol 0 indicating the last symbol of asubframe; and 1 indicating the penultimate symbol of the subframe, 1 bitChannel Access Type type of channel access priority, 1 bit ChannelAccess class of channel access priority, Priority Class 2 bits, {1, 2,3, 4} MaxnumberofsubframesSL maximum number of subframes for which LBTfails, 3 bits

The newly added PDCCH DCI 5B control signaling is transmitted by the eNBto the relay UE or remote UE, indicates configuration of unlicensedresource used by the relay UE or remote UE to transmit the PSCCH and thePSSCH, and includes SCI 0A.

Based on PDCCH DCI 5, configuration of SCI 0A is added.

The newly added PDCCH DCI 5C control signaling is transmitted by the eNBto the relay UE, includes a resource used by the relay UE to transmitthe PSCCH and configuration of an unlicensed resource used by the relayUE to instruct the remote UE to transmit the PSSCH, and includes SCI 2A.

Based on PDCCH DCI 5, configuration of SCI 2A is added.

It should be noted that the signaling configuration described above isonly illustrative rather than restrictive.

In addition, the eNB may configure the unlicensed resource pool in adynamic manner or a semi-static manner.

In the dynamic manner, the eNB dynamically configures the unlicensedresource pool for the relay UE and the remote UE through the PDCCH DCI5B signaling. The eNB notifies the relay UE or remote UE through the RRCsignaling that a scheduling manner of the resource is “scheduled”. Then,the eNB transmits the PDCCH DCI 5B (SCI 0A) to the relay UE or remoteUE. The relay UE or remote UE performs LBT according to theconfiguration of the unlicensed resource, to access the unlicensedchannel so as to perform the communication.

In the semi-static manner, the eNB semi-statically configures theunlicensed resource pool for the relay UE and remote UE through thePDCCH DCI 5B signaling. The eNB notifies the relay UE or remote UEthrough the RRC signaling that the scheduling manner of the resource is“scheduled”, and configures a parameter for semi-static scheduling ofthe unlicensed source. Then, the eNB transmits the PDCCH DCI 5B (SCI 0A)to the relay UE or remote UE and activates semi-static scheduling of theunlicensed resource. The relay UE or remote UE performs LBT according tothe configuration of the unlicensed resource, to access the unlicensedchannel so as to perform the communication.

A signaling process of the above example configuration of the unlicensedresource pool is shown in FIG. 13.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed and sl-subframeUnli, may beadded in RRC, as shown in Table 1. A form of PDCCH DCI 5B (SCI 0A)control signaling is added, as shown in Table 3.

The exemplary embodiment in which the unlicensed resource is acquired byspecifying by the base station is described above. Next, an exemplaryembodiment in which the user equipment selects an unlicensed bandresource from the configured resource pool or resource pool list isdescribed.

In a case where the UE autonomously selects an unlicensed resource, thesignaling from the base station is configured as, for example,RRC→sl-commconfig→commTxReources→ue-selected→commTxPoolNormalDedicatedor commTxPoolNormalDedicatedExt. In this case, the relay UE or theremote UE may directly select a resource from a given resource pool toperform the sidelink communication. The signaling process forconfiguring the unlicensed resource is shown in FIG. 14.

A process for using the unlicensed resource in this case is shown inFIG. 15.

First, in a case where the relay UE or remote UE is configured to use anunlicensed resource pool in the RRC signaling, and the RRC signalingindicates “ue-selected”, the relay UE or remote UE selects a resourcepool (which may include licensed resources and unlicensed resources)from an RRC resource pool list.

Then, in a case where the remote UE or the relay UE selects anunlicensed resource pool, the relay UE or the remote UE performs the LBTaccording to a parameter configured in the RRC signaling.

In a case where the cumulative number of times that the relay UE orremote UE fails to access the allocated unlicensed resource is greaterthan a threshold, the relay UE or remote UE directly selects a licensedresource from the resource pool list to perform sidelink communication.Otherwise, the relay UE or remote UE occupies the unlicensed band toperform the sidelink communication.

The relay UE and the remote UE may acquire the configuration of theunlicensed resource pool by monitoring the RRC signaling. Further, forexample, an unlicensed resource for sidelink and configurationinformation of channel access may be added to PDCCH DCI 5. In a casewhere the relay UE selects an unlicensed resource in a resource poollist of RRC signaling, a condition for selecting an unlicensed channelis added before the unlicensed resource is selected, so that delaycaused by accessing an unlicensed channel is reduced, thereby improvingservice quality for the UE.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed and SL-ConfigCommUnli, may beadded in RRC, as shown in Table 1.

Exemplary embodiments related to the resource used for sidelinkcommunication are described above. Next, exemplary embodiments relatedto a resource used for sidelink discovery are described below. Similarto the resource for communication, the resource used for sidelinkdiscovery may be acquired in a manner that the base station specifiesthe unlicensed band resource or in a manner that a user equipmentselects the unlicensed band resource from a configured resource pool ora resource pool list.

For a case where the base station specifies the unlicensed band resourceused for sidelink discovery (referred to as “discovery” hereinafter), ina case where the UE is in an RRC_CONNECTED state, a resource used by theUE to transmit discovery may be acquired in the RRC signaling. In a casewhere the RRC signaling indicates “scheduled”, the UE uses a specificresource to transmit discovery. In a case where the RRC signalingindicates “ue-selected”, the resource used by the UE to transmitdiscovery is selected from a specific resource pool, for example,discTxPoolDedicated.

A process for transmitting discovery in the case of “scheduled” is shownin FIG. 16.

In a case where the relay UE or remote UE is configured with anunlicensed resource in the RRC signaling (scheduled), the relay UE orremote UE performs LBT to access the unlicensed resource. If LBT isperformed successfully, the relay UE or remote UE occupies theunlicensed band. If the number of subframes for which the relay UE orremote UE fails to perform LBT reaches a threshold, the relay UE orremote UE may request for a licensed resource pool, for example, throughsidelinkUEinformation, to transmit a discovery signal.

System capacity can be increased by using unlicensed resource in thesidelink discovery. Further, the delay of using the unlicensed resourceby the UE can be reduced by configuring the cumulative maximum number ofsubframes for which the LBT fails.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed and SL-ConfigDiscUnli, may beadded in RRC, as shown in Table 1.

For the case where the UE selects the unlicensed band resource used forsidelink discovery from the configured resource pool or resource poollist, when the relay UE or remote UE is in the RRC_CONNECTED state andthe RRC signaling indicates “ue-selected”, the UE is instructed toselect a resource from the resource pool. In a case where the configuredresource pool includes an unlicensed resource and the unlicensedresource is selected, the UE performs LBT according to a parameter ofchannel access. In a case where the relay UE or remote UE fails toaccess the unlicensed channel in the configured maximum number ofsubframes, the relay UE or remote UE directly selects a licensedresource pool with high priority. In a case where the LBT issuccessfully performed, discovery is transmitted on the unlicensedchannel.

A process for transmitting discovery in the case of “ue-selected” isshown in FIG. 17.

In a case where the relay UE or remote UE is configured with anunlicensed resource in the RRC signaling (ue-selected), the relay UE orremote UE selects a resource in the RRC signaling. In a case where theunlicensed resource is selected, the relay UE or remote UE performs LBTto access the unlicensed resource. If the LBT is successfully performed,the relay UE or remote UE occupies the unlicensed channel. If themaximum number of subframes for which LBT performed by the relay UE orremote UE fails is greater than the threshold, the relay UE or remote UEselects a licensed resource pool based on the RRC signaling.

The UE selects the unlicensed resource pool from the resource pool listconfigured in the RRC to perform the discovery. Delay and powerconsumption due to use of the unlicensed resource can be effectivelyreduced by adding the condition for selecting the unlicensed resource.

In this case, new fields such as SLUnlicensed and SL-ConfigDiscUnli maybe added in RRC, as shown in Table 1.

Next, an exemplary embodiment in which the base station indirectlyallocates an unlicensed resource for the remote UEs is described.

According to an embodiment, the relay UE forwards one or more of thefollowing to the remote UE: information indicating the unlicensed bandresource used for the sidelink communication; and information indicatinga resource pool of the unlicensed band resource used for sidelinkcommunication.

In a case where the RRC signaling indicates that an SL communicationresource is “scheduled”, and the UE is in the RRC_CONNECTED state in theprimary cell, the RRC signaling is configured asRRC→sl-commconfig→commTxResources→scheduled. The eNB notifies a relay UEconnected to a remote UE of configuration of an unlicensed resource forthe remote UE through the RRC signaling. The relay UE completelyforwards configuration information of an unlicensed resource pool to theremote UE.

A specific signaling process is shown in FIG. 18.

The eNB notifies the relay UE of configuration information of anunlicensed resource pool for the remote UE through the RRC signaling.The relay UE completely forwards the configuration information of theunlicensed resource pool for the remote UE to the remote UE, forexample, through RRCResourceConfig signaling. The remote UE performs LBTaccording to the configuration information of the unlicensed resource.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed and SL-ConfigCommUnli, may beadded in RRC, as shown in Table 1. In addition, a field ofRRCResourceConfig may be introduced (as shown in Table 5).

TABLE 5 RRCResourceConfig signaling Signaling DescriptionRRCResourceConfig Relay UE forwards resource configuration informationfor remote UE

In addition, in a case where the RRC signaling indicates that the SLcommunication resource is “ue-selected”, and the UE is in theRRC_CONNECTED state in the primary cell, the RRC signaling may beconfigured as, for example,RRC→sl-commconfig→commTxResources→ue-selected→commTxPoolNormalDedicatedor commTxPoolNormalDedicatedExt. The eNB notifies the relay UE connectedto the remote UE of configuration of the unlicensed resource for theremote UE through the RRC signaling. The relay UE completely forwardsconfiguration information of an unlicensed resource pool to the remoteUE. The resource pool list (including licensed resources and unlicensedresources) may be configured in the RRC signaling of the relay UE.

A specific process is shown in FIG. 19. The eNB transmits theconfiguration information of the unlicensed resource pool for the remoteUE to the relay UE through the RRC signaling. The relay UE completelyforwards the configuration information of the unlicensed resource poolfor the remote UE to the remote UE through the RRCResourceConfigsignaling. If the remote UE selects an unlicensed resource poolaccording to the configuration of the resource pool, the remote UEperforms LBT to access the unlicensed resource.

In this exemplary embodiment, the remote UE acquires a resourceforwarded via the relay UE, so that the configuration of the unlicensedresource may be configured in the RRC signaling of the relay UE. Afteracquiring configuration information of the resource for the remote UE,the relay UE completely forwards the configuration information to theremote UE. The remote UE may acquire the configuration of the unlicensedresource to access the unlicensed channel according to the configurationinformation forwarded by the relay UE.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed and SL-ConfigCommUnli, may beadded in RRC, as shown in Table 1. In addition, a field ofRRCResourceConfig may be introduced (as shown in Table 5).

FIGS. 20 and 21 show processes that the remote UE uses an unlicensedresource according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 20, in the case where the remote UE is configured withthe unlicensed resource, the remote UE performs LBT according to a usageparameter of the configured unlicensed resource. If the cumulativenumber of times that the remote UE fails to access the allocatedunlicensed resource is greater than the threshold, the remote UEdirectly requests for the licensed resource to perform the sidelinkcommunication. Otherwise, the remote UE occupies the unlicensed band toperform the communication.

As shown in FIG. 21, in the case where the remote UE is configured withan unlicensed resource list, and the remote UE selects an unlicensedresource from the unlicensed resource pool list, the remote UE performsLBT according to a usage parameter of the configured unlicensedresource. If the cumulative number of times that the remote UE fails toaccess the allocated unlicensed resource is greater than the threshold,the remote UE directly selects the licensed resource to perform thesidelink communication. Otherwise, the remote UE occupies the unlicensedband to perform communication.

Next, embodiments of relay UE assisted resource allocation aredescribed.

According to an embodiment, the relay UE receives information indicatingthe unlicensed band resource used for the sidelink communication fromthe base station, and notifies the remote UE of the indicated unlicensedband resource.

Alternatively, the relay UE may receive information indicating aresource pool of the unlicensed band resource used for the sidelinkcommunication from the base station, select the unlicensed band resourceused for the sidelink communication for the remote UE, and notify theremote UE of the selected unlicensed band resource.

For example, the relay UE may perform this notification through aphysical Sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

More specifically, the eNB may notify a relay UE connected to the remoteUE of the unlicensed resource configuration (ue-selected or scheduled)for the remote UE through the RRC signaling. In a case where the RRCsignaling indicates “ue-selected”, the relay UE may select a resourcefrom the resource pool for the remote UE, and notify the remote UE ofthe configuration of the unlicensed resource in the sidelinkcommunication through PSCCH SCI 2A. In a case where the RRC signalingindicates “scheduled” and the scheduled resource is an unlicensedresource, the relay UE may notify the remote UE of the configuration ofthe unlicensed resource in the sidelink communication through, forexample, PSCCH SCI 2A. The remote UE performs LBT according to theconfiguration information to access the unlicensed band. A configurationprocess is shown in FIG. 22.

In this exemplary embodiment, the relay UE assists the remote UE inacquiring configuration information of the unlicensed resource in theRRC signaling, and allocates the configuration information of theunlicensed resource to the remote UE through the PSCCH. The remote UEdirectly performs LBT. If the PSSCH is transmitted after a channel isoccupied, the PSCCH is unnecessary to be transmitted. Therefore,signaling overhead and energy consumption of the remote UE can bereduced.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed and SL-ConfigCommUnli (asshown in Table 1) and SCI 2A sidelink control information (as shown inTable 4) may be added in RRC.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the relay UE may notify theremote UE of the unlicensed band resource that is allocated to the relayUE.

More specifically, in the case where the relay UE is configured with theunlicensed resource through the RRC signaling (ue-selected) or theactivated semi-static unlicensed resource, the relay UE may configurethe unlicensed resource for the remote UE according to the configurationof the unlicensed resource pool of the relay UE. The relay UE may notifythe remote UE of the configuration of the unlicensed resource in thesidelink communication through, for example, PSCCH SCI 0. The remote UEperforms LBT according to the configuration information to access theunlicensed band. A configuration process is shown in FIG. 23.

The relay UE shares the configured unlicensed resource with the remoteUE, and allocates the configured unlicensed resource to the remote UEthrough the PSCCH. The remote UE directly performs LBT. If the PSSCH istransmitted after a channel is occupied, the PSCCH is unnecessary to betransmitted. Therefore, the signaling overhead and energy consumption ofthe remote UE can be reduced. Further, signaling overhead for requestingfor a sidelink resource from the base station can be reduced.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed and SL-ConfigCommUnli (asshown in Table 1) may be added to RRC. Further, SCI 2A sidelink controlinformation (as shown in Table 4) may be added.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the relay UE may perform LBTwith respect to an unlicensed band resource to be allocated to theremote UE, and notify the remote UE of a successfully accessedunlicensed channel.

More specifically, in the case where the relay UE selects the unlicensedresource for the remote UE, in order to reduce the energy consumption ofthe remote UE performing LBT, the relay UE may perform LBT for theremote UE and then access the unlicensed channel, and notify the remoteUE of the unlicensed channel through, for example, PSCCH SCI 2A. In thiscase, the remote UE may perform type-2 LBT or not perform LBT whenaccessing the unlicensed channel. A configuration process is shown inFIG. 24.

A type of LBT is described briefly here. In the current cellularnetwork, unlicensed bands used in uplink data transmission and downlinkdata transmission channels are dynamically scheduled. The UE or eNBperforms LBT before accessing the unlicensed channel. The standardstipulates that at least a clear channel assessment (CCA) detection,that is, energy detection, is performed. In a case where energy of theunlicensed band is detected to exceed a threshold, it is indicated thatthe unlicensed channel is occupied. Currently, there are four types ofLBT: CAT1 LBT in which LBT is not performed; CAT2 LBT in which LBT isperformed while random rollback is not performed; CAT3 LBT in which LBTis performed and a rollback competition window has a fixed size; andCAT4 LBT in which LBT is performed and a rollback competition window hasa variable size. The 3GPP standard specifies two types of uplinkunlicensed channel access; type-1 in which CAT4 LBT is adopted and LBTparameters are configured according to the channel access priorityclass; and type-2 in which LBT is performed for 25 us.

In a case where the relay UE configures unlicensed information for theremote LIE, the relay LIE assists the remote UE in performing LBT tooccupy the unlicensed channel, thereby reducing the signaling overheadand the energy consumption of the remote UE.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed and SL-ConfigCommUnli (asshown in Table 1) may be added to RRC. Further, SCI 2A sidelink controlinformation (as shown in Table 4) may be added.

For a process that the remote UE accesses the unlicensed channel, onemay refer to the process that the remote UE uses the unlicensed resourceaccording to the above exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of an electronic device forwireless communication according to an embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, an electronic device 200 includes processingcircuitry 210. The processing circuitry 210 includes a determinationunit 211, a control unit 213 and a selection unit 215. The determinationunit 211 and the control unit 213 are similar to the determination unit111 and the control unit 113, respectively.

The selection unit 215 is configured to select an unlicensed bandresource used for the sidelink communication based on zone configurationinformation.

Next, selection of the unlicensed resource based on a zone is describedby examples.

In a case where the remote UE is in an RRC_IDLE state, a resource usedfor the remote UE to perform sidelink communication, for example, may beselected from a resource pool of commTxPoolNormalCommon in SIB18. In acase where a field of prioritylist (priority list) is configured, aresource pool is selected based on a priority in this field. In a casewhere this field is not configured, for example, a first resource poolmay be selected. Since the remote UE selects the resource in SIB 18,multiple remote UEs may select the same unlicensed resource on samesubframes, thereby resulting in a channel access conflict. Therefore,the zone is introduced when the unlicensed resource is used. The eNBacquires the unlicensed resource from the SIB 18 based on the zone, toreduce conflict among the remote UEs accessing the unlicensed channel.FIG. 25 shows an example of zone division.

For example, the unlicensed resource may be configured in a resourcepool list of SIB18, and UnlicensedEnabledZoneList and ZoneConfig areconfigured in SIB18.

When a UE selects a resource pool in SIB 18 and selects an unlicensedresource pool, the UE checks whether its zone ID is in theUnlicensedEnabledZoneList list. If the zone ID is in the list, the UE isallowed to use the selected unlicensed resource.

In this configuration, a process that the sidelink communication isperformed using the unlicensed resource is shown in FIG. 26.

The Unlicensed resource is configured in a resource pool list of SIB18.If the remote UE selects the unlicensed resource pool and the zone ID ofthe remote UE is included in the UnlicensedEnabledZoneList, the UEperforms LBT to access the unlicensed resource based on theconfiguration information. In a case where the LBT is performedsuccessfully, the UE occupies the unlicensed resource. In a case wherethe number of subframes for which LBT fails is greater than the maximumnumber of subframes, the UE, for example, may directly select a licensedresource pool.

Through the above embodiments, usage of unlicensed resources in eachzone can be flexibly enabled, thereby effectively reducing unlicensedchannel access conflict and reducing delay.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed and SL-ConfigCommUnli (asshown in Table 1) and SCI 2A sidelink control information (as shown inTable 4) may be added to the RRC. In addition, configuration informationrelated to the zone may be introduced, as shown in Table 6.

TABLE 6 Fields added in SIB18 Field Description ZoneConfigCommindicating zone configuration for D2D communication SLCommZoneListUnliindicating a list of zone IDs for which unlicensed resources can be usedto perform D2D communication SL-ConfigCommUnli Sidelink communicationprocedure unlicensed resource configuration IE

Further, an unlicensed resource pool used for sidelink discovery mayalso be selected based on the zone.

Specifically, in a case where the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state, the relayUE and the remote UE, for example, may acquire resources fortransmitting discovery from SIB19. In a case where an unlicensedresource pool used for the sidelink discovery is configured in SIB19, anunlicensed channel access conflict may be caused. In order to reduce anaccess collision of the unlicensed resource pool, zone configuration maybe introduced, as shown in FIG. 25. The eNB divides the zone to controlthe sidelink to use the unlicensed resource to transmit the discovery.

In a case where the unlicensed resource is configured in SIB19, a fieldof UnlicensedEnabledZoneList may be configured to indicate a zone listfor unlicensed resources in SIB19, and a field of ZoneConfig may beconfigured for zone. In a case where the relay UE or remote-UE selectsan unlicensed resource in SIB19, the relay UE or remote-UE checkswhether its zone ID is in the UnlicensedEnabledZoneList list. If thezone ID is in this list, the relay UE or remote UE is allowed to use theselected unlicensed resource. A process for using an unlicensed resourcein SIB 19 is similar to that shown in FIG. 26.

In this case, fields such as SLUnlicensed and SL-ConfigDiscUnli (asshown in Table 1) may be added to the RRC and configuration informationrelated to the zone may be introduced, as shown in Table 7.

TABLE 7 Fields added in SIB19 Field Description ZoneConfigDiscindicating zone configuration for D2D discovery SLDiscZoneListUnliindicating a list of zone IDs for which unlicensed resources can be usedto perform D2D discovery SL-ConfigDiscUnli Sidelink discovery procedureunlicensed resource configuration IE

Next, embodiments for sharing MCOT are described.

According to an embodiment, the control unit 113 or 213 may be furtherconfigured to perform control to transmit information indicating maximumchannel occupancy time MCOT of unlicensed band resource occupied by thefirst user equipment to the second user equipment, to share the MCOTwith the second user equipment.

The sharing the MCOT described here includes that: the first userequipment shares a remaining subframe of the unlicensed resourceoccupied by the first user equipment to the second user equipment. Thefirst user does not use the unlicensed resources during the sharingperiod.

In addition, the maximum channel occupancy time MCOT of unlicensed bandresource occupied by the first user equipment may also be used for thesidelink discovery.

For the relay UE and the remote UE, according to an embodiment, therelay UE receives information on the maximum channel occupancy time(MCOT) of unlicensed band resource for a cellular link from the basestation, and uses the unlicensed band resource to perform sidelinkcommunication with the remote UE within the MCOT.

Next, manners for sharing the MCOT are described in connection withspecific examples.

In a first example, in a case where a Uu link uses an unlicensedresource, the relay UE uses the unlicensed resource to perform sidelinkcommunication. The relay UE shares the unlicensed resource occupied bythe relay UE to the remote UE and adds a field of MCOTConfig. The remoteUE performs type-2 LBT or does not perform LBT to access an unlicensedchannel. The field of MCOTConfig includes the number of remainingunlicensed subframes and an unlicensed channel access parameter. Theremote UE uses the unlicensed resource within the MCOT. The remote UEmay not transmit the PSCCH, and directly transmits the PSSCH to saveavailable unlicensed subframes. Signaling configuration is shown in FIG.27.

The relay UE activates the remote UE to use the unlicensed resourcethrough PSCCH SCI 2A. If the relay UE is to terminate the use of theunlicensed resource by the remote UE, the relay UE deactivates the useof the unlicensed resource through PSCCH SCI 2A.

In this case, the relay UE configures the unlicensed channel accessparameter in MCOTconfig.

The MCOTconfig IE may include the number of available subframes and theunlicensed channel access parameter. For example, fields included in theMCOTconfig IE are shown in Table 8.

TABLE 8 MCOTconfig IE Field Description and value NumberSubframe numberof remaining available subframes, 3 bits PSSCH starting indicating aposition of a starting symbol position for transmission, 2bits PSSCHending 0 indicating that the last symbol of a symbol subframe is atermination transmission symbol; and 1 indicating that the penultimatesymbol of the subframe is the termination transmission symbol, 1 bitChannel Access indicating a type of unlicensed channel Type access, 1bit Channel Access indicating a class of channel access Priority Classpriority, 2 bits, {1, 2, 3, 4}

In a second example, in a case where the Uu link uses an unlicensedresource, the remote UE uses the unlicensed resource to perform thesidelink communication. The remote UE shares the unlicensed resourceoccupied by the remote UE to the relay UE and adds a field ofMCOTConfig. The relay UE performs type-2 LBT or does not perform LBT toaccess the unlicensed channel. The field of MCOTConfig includes thenumber of remaining unlicensed subframes and an unlicensed channelaccess parameter. The Relay UE uses the unlicensed resource within theMCOT. The relay UE may not transmit the PSCCH, and directly transmitsthe PSSCH to save available unlicensed subframes. Signalingconfiguration is shown in FIG. 28.

Through this configuration, the relay UE and the remote UE shareunlicensed information of the MCOT. The relay UE or remote UE mayperform simple LBT (for example, type-2 LBT) or may not perform LBT toaccess the unlicensed channel, thereby reducing signaling overhead,energy consumption and delay.

In this case, the remote UE configures the unlicensed channel accessparameter in MCOTconfig, such as NumberSubframe, PSSCH startingposition, PSSCH ending symbol, Channel Access Type, and Channel AccessPriority Class, as shown in Table 8.

In the above first and second examples, the MCOT is shared between therelay UE and the remote UE, and the Uu link may use the licensedresource or the unlicensed resource.

In a third example, in a case where the Uu link uses an unlicensedresource pool to transmit data related to sidelink to the relay UE, therelay UE may share the unlicensed resource for Uu link to performsidelink communication. A process is shown in FIG. 29. The eNB transmitssidelink data to the relay LE, and shares the remaining unlicensedsubframes with the relay UE to perform sidelink communication. The eNBnotifies the relay UE of parameter configuration of accessing theunlicensed band through the field of MCOTConfig. The remote UE performstype-2 LBT or does not perform LBT according to the configurationinformation to occupy the unlicensed channel.

The eNB activates the relay UE to use the unlicensed resource throughPDCCH DCI 5B, and configures the unlicensed resource access parameter.If the eNB is to terminate the use of the unlicensed resource by therelay UE, the eNB deactivates the use of the unlicensed resource throughthe PDCCH DCI 5B.

In this case, the eNB configures the unlicensed channel access parameterin MCOTconfig, as shown in Table 8.

In a fourth example, in a case where the relay UE or remote UE uses amodel B (“who is there” mode) discovery to perform a discovery process,a UE at the receiving side may access the unlicensed channel within theMCOT.

In a case where a UE at the transmitting side transmits a discoverysolicitation message to use the unlicensed resource, within the MCOT,the UE at the receiving side may perform type-2 LBT to access theunlicensed channel to transmit a discovery response message.Alternatively, the UE at the receiving side may not perform LBT toaccess the unlicensed channel to transmit the discovery responsemessage. The discovery solicitation message includes configurationinformation of the MCOT, and at least a channel access parameter, andthe number of remaining available unlicensed subframes. In this manner,delay and energy consumption generated when the UE at the receiving sideaccesses the unlicensed resource can be effectively reduced. A signalingprocess in this case is shown in FIG. 30.

In this case, the eNB configures the unlicensed channel access parameterin MCOTconfig, as shown in Table 8.

In the present disclosure, the configuration process of the unlicensedparameter on the sidelink is provided, so that a D2D user can acquirethe unlicensed resource. Processes of using unlicensed resources in D2Dcommunication and D2D discovery are provided in the present disclosure,and include the configuration and use of the unlicensed resource. Whenselecting a resource, the UE considers data service priority, linkquality or current batter level of an apparatus of a user, so that delayand service quality degradation caused by the use of the unlicensedresource by the UE can be reduced while increasing system capacity.Further, energy consumption of a low-power apparatus is reduced.

In the above description of the electronic device according to theembodiments of the present disclosure, it is apparent that some methodsand processes are also disclosed. Next, a description of the methodsaccording to embodiments of the disclosure is given without repeatingthe details described above.

As shown in FIG. 3, a wireless communication method according to anembodiment includes the following steps S310 to 320.

In S310, it is determined whether a first user equipment satisfies acondition for performing a sidelink communication with a second userequipment using unlicensed band resource.

In S320, if the condition is satisfied, the first user equipment iscontrolled to perform the sidelink communication with the second userequipment using the unlicensed band resource.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of an electronic device forwireless communication according to another embodiment. An electronicdevice 400 includes processing circuitry 410. The processing circuitry410 includes a control unit 411, which is configured to control thefirst user equipment to perform the sidelink communication with thesecond user equipment using the unlicensed band resource and performcontrol to transmit information indicating MCOT of unlicensed bandresource occupied by the first user equipment to the second userequipment, to share the MCOT with the second user equipment.

According to an embodiment, one of the first user equipment and thesecond user equipment operates as a relay UE, and the other of the firstuser equipment and the second user equipment operates as a remote UE.The remote UE receives information from the base station via the relayUE. The relay UE receives from the base station information indicatingthe MCOT of unlicensed band resource for a cellular link, and performssidelink communication with the remote UE using the unlicensed bandresource within the MCOT.

According to an embodiment, the maximum channel occupancy time (MCOT) ofthe unlicensed band resource occupied by the first user equipment isused for sidelink discovery.

As shown in FIG. 5, a wireless communication method according to anembodiment includes the following steps S510 to S520.

In S510, the first user equipment is controlled to perform sidelinkcommunication with a second user equipment using unlicensed bandresource.

In S520, information indicating MCOT of unlicensed band resourceoccupied by the first user equipment is transmitted to the second userequipment, to share the MCOT with the second user equipment. Morespecifically, the second user equipment may perform LBT according toconfiguration of the MCOT, to use the unlicensed resource.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of an electronic device forwireless communication according to another embodiment. The electronicdevice 600 includes processing circuitry 610. The processing circuitry610 includes a control unit 611, which is configured to perform controlto transmit indication information to a user equipment. The indicationinformation indicates an acquisition manner of unlicensed band resourceused for a sidelink communication of the user equipment. Alternatively,the indication information indicates the unlicensed band resource.

The acquisition manner may include: specifying the unlicensed bandresource by the base station; or selecting the unlicensed band resourceby a user equipment from a configured resource pool or a resource poollist.

As shown in FIG. 7, a wireless communication method according to anembodiment includes the following step S710.

In S710, indication information is transmitted to a user equipment. Theindication information indicates an acquisition manner of unlicensedband resource used for a sidelink communication of the user equipment.Alternatively, the indication information indicates the unlicensed bandresource.

In addition, a computer readable medium is further provided according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. The computer readable mediumincludes executable instructions that, when executed by an informationprocessing apparatus, cause the information processing apparatus toexecute the methods according to the embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

For example, steps of the above methods and modules and/or units of theabove devices may be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, or acombination thereof. In a case where steps of the above methods andmodules and/or units of the above devices are implemented by software orfirmware, a computer (for example, a general-purpose computer 800 shownin FIG. 8) having a dedicated hardware structure may be installed with aprogram constituting software for implementing the above methods from astorage medium or a network. When being installed with various programs,the computer is capable of performing various functions.

In FIG. 8, an arithmetic processing unit (that is, CPU) 801 performsvarious processing according to a program stored in a read-only memory(ROM) 802 or a program loaded from a storage part 808 to a random-accessmemory (RAM) 803. Data required when the CPU 801 performs variousprocessing is also stored in the RAM 803 as needed. The CPU 801, the ROM802, and the RAM 803 are linked to each other via a bus 804. Aninput/output interface 805 is also linked to the bus 804.

The following components are linked to the input/output interface 805:an input part 806 (including a keyboard, a mouse or the like), an outputpart 807 (including a display such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquidcrystal display (LCD), a speaker or the like), a storage part 808(including a hard disk or the like), and a communication part 809(including a network interface card such as a LAN card, a modem or thelike). The communication part 809 performs communication processing viaa network such as the Internet. A driver 810 may also be linked to theinput/output interface 805 as needed. A removable medium 811 such as amagnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductormemory may be installed on the driver 810 as needed, so that a computerprogram read from the removable medium 811 is installed into the storagepart 808 as needed.

In a case where the above series of processing are implemented bysoftware, a program constituting the software is installed from anetwork such as the Internet, or a storage medium such as the removablemedium 811.

Those skilled in the art should understand that the storage medium isnot limited to the removable medium 811 shown in FIG. 8 that stores aprogram and is distributed separately from the apparatus so as toprovide the program to the user. The removable medium 811, for example,may include: a magnetic disk (including a floppy disk (registeredtrademark)); an optical disk (including a compact disk read only memory(CD-ROM) and a digital versatile disc (DVD)); a magneto-optical disk(including a minidisc (MD) (registered trademark)); and a semiconductormemory. Alternatively, the storage medium may be the ROM 802, a harddisk included in the storage part 808 or the like. The storage mediumhas a program stored therein and is distributed to the user togetherwith an apparatus in which the storage medium is included.

A program product storing machine-readable instruction codes is furtherprovided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Theinstruction codes, when being read and executed by a machine, mayperform the methods according to the above embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Accordingly, a storage medium for carrying the program product storingthe machine-readable instruction codes is also provided according to thepresent disclosure. The storage medium may include but is not limited toa floppy disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a memory card, amemory stick or the like.

The following electronic apparatus is involved in the embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In a case where the electronic apparatus is used forbase station side, the electronic apparatus may be implemented as anytype of gNB or evolved node B (eNB), such as a macro eNB and a smalleNB. The small eNB may be an eNB of a cell having a smaller coveragethan a macro cell, such as a pico-cell eNB, a micro eNB and a home(femto) eNB. Alternatively, the electronic apparatus may be implementedas any other types of base stations, such as a NodeB and a basetransceiver station (BTS). The electronic apparatus may include: a mainbody (also referred to as a base station apparatus) configured tocontrol the wireless communication; and one or more remote radio heads(RRH) provided at a different position from the main body. In addition,various types of terminals, which are described below, may each serve asa base station by performing functions of the base station temporarilyor semi-persistently.

In a case where the electronic apparatus is used for user equipmentside, the electronic apparatus may be implemented as a mobile terminal(such as a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, aportable game terminal, a portable/dongle mobile router and a digitalcamera) or a vehicle terminal (such as an automobile navigationapparatus). Furthermore, the electronic apparatus may be a wirelesscommunication module (such as an integrated circuitry module including asingle die or multiple dies) mounted on each of the terminals describedabove.

[Application Example for a Terminal Apparatus]

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of asmartphone 2500 to which technology according to the present disclosuremay be applied. The smartphone 2500 includes a processor 2501, a memory2502, a storage device 2503, an external connection interface 2504, acamera device 2506, a sensor 2507, a microphone 2508, an input device2509, a display device 2510, a speaker 2511, a wireless communicationinterface 2512, one or more antenna switches 2515, one or more antennas2516, a bus 2517, a battery 2518 and an auxiliary controller 2519.

The processor 2501 may be, for example, a CPU or a system on chip (SoC),and controls functions of an application layer and another layer of thesmartphone 2500. The memory 2502 includes an RAM and an ROM, and storesdata and a program executed by the processor 2501. The storage device2503 may include a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory and ahard disk. The external connection interface 2504 is an interface forconnecting an external device (such as a memory card and a universalserial bus (USB) device) to the smartphone 2500.

The camera device 2506 includes an image sensor (such as a chargecoupled device (CCD) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor(CMOS)), and generates a captured image. The sensor 2507 may include agroup of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyro sensor, ageomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor. The microphone 2508converts sound that is inputted to the smartphone 2500 into an audiosignal. The input device 2509 includes, for example, a touch sensorconfigured to detect touch on a screen of the display device 2510, akeypad, a keyboard, a button, or a switch, and receives an operation orinformation inputted from a user. The display device 2510 includes ascreen (such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organiclight-emitting diode (OLED) display), and displays an output image ofthe smartphone 2500. The speaker 2511 is configured to convert an audiosignal outputted from the smartphone 2500 into sound.

The wireless communication interface 2512 supports any cellularcommunication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced), and performswireless communication. The wireless communication interface 2512 mayinclude, for example, a baseband (BB) processor 2513 and radio frequency(RF) circuitry 2514. The BB processor 2513 may perform, for example,coding/decoding, modulating/demodulating andmultiplexing/de-multiplexing, and perform various types of signalprocessing for wireless communications. The RF circuitry 2514 mayinclude, for example, a mixer, a filter and an amplifier, and transmitsand receives a wireless signal via an antenna 2516. The wirelesscommunication interface 2512 may be a chip module having the BBprocessor 2513 and the RF circuitry 2514 integrated thereon. As shown inFIG. 9, the wireless communication interface 2512 may include multipleBB processors 2513 and multiple RF circuitry 2514. Although FIG. 9 showsan example in which the wireless communication interface 2512 includesthe multiple BB processors 2513 and the multiple RF circuitry 2514, thewireless communication interface 2512 may include a single BB processor2513 or single RF circuitry 2514.

Besides the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communicationinterface 2512 may support an additional type of wireless communicationscheme, such as a short-distance wireless communication scheme, a nearfield communication scheme and a wireless local area network (LAN)scheme. In this case, the wireless communication interface 2512 mayinclude the BB processor 2513 and the RF circuitry 2514 for eachwireless communication scheme.

Each of the antenna switches 2515 switches connection destinations ofthe antennas 2516 among multiple circuitry (such as circuitry fordifferent wireless communication schemes) included in the wirelesscommunication interface 2512.

Each of the antennas 2516 includes a single or multiple antenna elements(such as multiple antenna elements included in an MIMO antenna), and isused for the wireless communication interface 2512 to transmit andreceive a wireless signal. The smartphone 2500 may include multipleantennas 2516, as shown in FIG. 9. Although FIG. 9 shows an example inwhich the smartphone 2500 includes the multiple antennas 2516, thesmartphone 2500 may also include a single antenna 2516.

In addition, the smartphone 2500 may include an antenna 2516 for eachtype of wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antennaswitches 2515 may be omitted from the configuration of the smartphone2500.

The processor 2501, the memory 2502, the storage device 2503, theexternal connection interface 2504, the camera device 2506, the sensor2507, the microphone 2508, the input device 2509, the display device2510, the speaker 2511, the wireless communication interface 2512, andthe auxiliary controller 2519 are connected to each other via the bus2517. The battery 2518 supplies power to blocks of the smartphone 2500shown in FIG. 9 via feeders which are partially shown with dashed linesin the drawings. The auxiliary controller 2519, for example, operates aminimum necessary function of the smartphone 2500 in a sleep mode.

In the smartphone 2500 shown in FIG. 9, the transceiving device of theapparatus for user equipment side according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure may be implemented by the wireless communicationinterface 2512. At least a part of functions of the processing circuitryand/or units of the electronic device or the information processingapparatus for user equipment side according to the embodiments of thepresent disclosure may be implemented by the processor 2501 or theauxiliary controller 2519. For example, the auxiliary controller 2519may perform a part of functions of the processor 2501, to reduce powerconsumption of the battery 2518. Further, the processor 2501 or theauxiliary controller 2519 may perform at least a part of functions ofthe processing circuitry and/or the units of the electronic device orthe information processing apparatus for user equipment side accordingto the embodiments of the present disclosure by executing a programstored in the memory 2502 or the storage device 2503.

[Application Example for a Base Station]

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a basestation such as an evolved (eNB) to which the technology according tothe present disclosure may be applied. An eNB 2300 includes one or moreantennas 2310 and a base station apparatus 2320. Each of the antennas2310 is connected to the base station apparatus 2320 via a radiofrequency (RF) cable.

Each of the antennas 2310 includes a single antenna element or multipleantenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in amultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna), and is used for the basestation apparatus 2320 to transmit and receive a wireless signal. TheeNB 2300 may include multiple antennas 2310, as shown in FIG. 10. Forexample, the multiple antennas 2310 may be compatible with multiplefrequency bands used by the eNB 2300. Although FIG. 10 shows an examplein which the eNB 2300 includes multiple antennas 2310, the eNB 2300 mayinclude a single antenna 2310.

The base station apparatus 2320 includes a controller 2321, a memory2322, a network interface 2323, and a wireless communication interface2325.

The controller 2321 may be, for example, a CPU or a DSP, and operatevarious functions of a high layer of the base station apparatus 2320.For example, the controller 2321 generates a data packet based on datain a signal processed by the wireless communication interface 2325 andtransmits the generated packet via the network interface 2323. Thecontroller 2321 may bundle data from multiple baseband processors togenerate a bundled packet and transmit the generated bundled packet. Thecontroller 2321 may have a logic function that performs control such asradio resource control, wireless bearer control, mobility management,admission control, and scheduling. The control may be performed incombination with a nearby eNB or core network node. The memory 2322includes an RAM and an ROM, and stores a program executed by thecontroller 2321 and various types of control data (such as a terminallist, transmission power data and scheduling data).

The network interface 2323 is a communication interface via which thebase station apparatus 2320 is connected to a core network 2324. Thecontroller 2321 may communicate with a core network node or another eNBvia the network interface 2323. In this case, the eNB 2300 may beconnected to the core network node or other eNB via a logical interface(such as an SI interface and an X2 interface). The network interface2323 may also be a wired communication interface or a wirelesscommunication interface for wireless backhaul line. If the networkinterface 2323 is the wireless communication interface, the networkinterface 2323 may use a frequency band for wireless communicationhigher than a frequency band used by the wireless communicationinterface 2325.

The wireless communication interface 2325 supports any cellularcommunication scheme (such as long term evolution (LTE) andLTE-Advanced), and provides wireless connection to a terminal positionedin a cell of the eNB 2300 via an antenna 2310. The wirelesscommunication interface 2325 may include, for example, a BB processor2326 and RF circuitry 2327. The BB processor 2326 may perform, forexample, encoding/decoding, modulating/demodulating andmultiplexing/de-multiplexing, and various types of signal processing oflayers (such as LI, medium access control (MAC), radio link control(RLC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)). Instead of thecontroller 2321, the BB processor 2326 may have a part or all of theabove logic functions. The BB processor 2326 may be implemented as amemory storing a communication control program, or a module including aprocessor configured to execute a program and related circuitry. Thefunction of the BB processor 2326 may be changed by updating theprogram. The module may be a card or blade inserted into a slot of thebase station apparatus 2320. Alternatively, the module may be a chipinstalled on the card or the blade. Further, the RF circuitry 2327 mayinclude, for example, a mixer, a filter or an amplifier, and transmitsand receives a wireless signal via the antenna 2310.

As shown in FIG. 10, the wireless communication interface 2325 mayinclude multiple BB processors 2326. For example, the multiple BBprocessors 2326 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used bythe eNB 2300. As shown in FIG. 10, the wireless communication interface2325 may include multiple RF circuitry 2327. For example, the multipleRF circuitry 2327 may be compatible with multiple antenna elements.Although FIG. 10 shows an example in which the wireless communicationinterface 2325 includes multiple BB processors 2326 and multiple RFcircuitry 2327, the wireless communication interface 2325 may include asingle BB processor 2326 or single RF circuitry 2327.

In the eNB 2300 shown in FIG. 10, the transceiving device of theapparatus for base station side according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure may be implemented by the wireless communicationinterface 2325. At least a part of functions of the processing circuitryand/or units of the electronic device or the information processingapparatus for base station side according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure may be implemented by the controller 2321. Forexample, the controller 2321 may perform at least a part of functions ofthe processing circuitry and/or the units of the electronic device orthe information processing apparatus for base station side according tothe embodiment of the present disclosure by executing the program storedin the memory 2322.

In the above description of specific embodiments of the presentdisclosure, features described and/or illustrated for one embodiment maybe used in one or more other embodiments in the same or similar manner,or may be combined with features in other embodiments, or may replacefeatures in other embodiments.

It should be emphasized that terms of “include/comprise” used hereinindicate presence of a feature, an element, a step, or a component, butdo not exclude presence or addition of one or more other features,elements, steps or components.

In the above embodiments and examples, reference signs consisting ofnumbers are used to represent steps and/or units. Those skilled in theart should understand that these reference numerals are only for purposeof illustration and drawing and are not indicative of the order or anyother limitations thereof.

In addition, the method according to the present disclosure is notlimited to be performed in the chronological order described herein, andmay be performed in other chronological order, in parallel orindependently. Therefore, the order in which the method is performeddescribed herein does not limit the technical scope of the presentdisclosure.

Although the present disclosure is described above through the specificembodiments of the present disclosure, it should be understood that allembodiments and examples described above are illustrative rather thanrestrictive. Various modifications, improvements and equivalents may bemade to the present disclosure by those skilled in the art within thescope and spirit of the attached claims. These modifications,improvements or equivalents should fall within the protection scope ofthe present disclosure.

1. An electronic device configured to operate as a base station in awireless communication network, comprising: a transceiver configured tocommunicate with a first user equipment; and processing circuitryconfigured to: control the first user equipment to perform the sidelinkcommunication with a second user equipment if a condition for performinga sidelink communication by the first user equipment with the seconduser equipment is satisfied, wherein processing circuitry is configuredto control the first user equipment to perform the sidelinkcommunication with the second user equipment by: transmitting, to thefirst user equipment, first configuration information that identifies anacquisition manner of transmission resource, wherein the firstconfiguration information is included in a radio resource control (RRC)signaling and comprises one of a first value or a second value, whereinthe first value identifies that the acquisition manner is a base stationscheduled manner where the transmission resource is scheduled by thebase station to the first user equipment, wherein the second valueidentifies that the acquisition manner is a user equipment selectedmanner where the first user equipment selects the transmission resourcefrom a configured resource pool or a resource pool list; andconfiguring, to the first user equipment, information identifying theconfigured resource pool or the resource pool list via the RRC signalingor a system information block (SIB).
 2. The electronic device accordingto claim 1, wherein in a case that the acquisition manner being the basestation scheduled manner, the circuitry is configured to schedule, thetransmission resources on unlicensed band for the first user equipmentto perform sidelink communication, based on a priority or a delayrequirement of sidelink data to be transmitted.
 3. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the configured resource pool or theresource pool list comprises transmission resources on both ofunlicensed band and licensed band, in a case that the acquisition mannerbeing the user equipment selected manner, the first user equipmentselects the transmission resources on unlicensed band to performsidelink communication, based on a priority or a delay requirement ofsidelink data to be transmitted.
 4. The electronic device according toclaim 3, wherein if the number of failures in Listen Before Talk on theunlicensed band exceeds a threshold, the first user equipment changes toselect the transmission resources on licensed band to perform sidelinkcommunication.
 5. The electronic device according to claim 2, whereinthe processing circuitry is further configured to control the first userequipment to perform the sidelink communication with the second userequipment by transmitting information indicating a channel occupancytime of the unlicensed band resources to be occupied by the sidelinkcommunication.
 6. The electronic device according to claim 4, whereinthe number of failures comprises a number of subframes for which ListenBefore Talk fails within a previous time window having a predeterminedlength.
 7. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein theprocessing circuitry is further configured to control the first userequipment to perform the sidelink communication with the second userequipment by transmitting, through a Physical Downlink Control Channel(PDCCH), second indication information that identifies the unlicensedband resource for the sidelink communication.
 8. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the first user equipment operates as arelay user equipment, and the second user equipment operates as a remoteuser equipment, wherein the remote user equipment receives informationfrom the base station via the relay user equipment.
 9. The electronicdevice according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to control the first user equipment to perform the sidelinkcommunication with the second user equipment by transmitting, to thefirst user equipment, zone configuration information that includes azone identifier and unlicensed band resource enabled zone list to enablethe first user equipment to select the unlicensed band resource based ona comparison of a current location and the zone configurationinformation.
 10. A method performed by an electronic device configuredto operate as a base station in a wireless communication network, themethod comprising: communicating with a first user equipment; andcontrolling the first user equipment to perform the sidelinkcommunication with a second user equipment if a condition for performinga sidelink communication by the first user equipment with the seconduser equipment is satisfied, wherein controlling the first userequipment to perform the sidelink communication with the second userequipment is done by: transmitting, to the first user equipment, firstconfiguration information that identifies an acquisition manner oftransmission resource, wherein the first configuration information isincluded in a radio resource control (RRC) signaling and comprises oneof a first value or a second value, wherein the first value identifiesthat the acquisition manner is a base station scheduled manner where thetransmission resource is scheduled by the base station to the first userequipment, wherein the second value identifies that the acquisitionmanner is a user equipment selected manner where the first userequipment selects the transmission resource from a configured resourcepool or a resource pool list; and configuring, to the first userequipment, information identifying the configured resource pool or theresource pool list via the RRC signaling or a system information block(SIB).
 11. An electronic device at a user equipment side in a wirelesscommunication network, comprising: processing circuitry configured to:acquire control information from a base station, and perform a sidelinkcommunication with another user equipment based on the controlinformation if a condition for performing a sidelink communication bythe first user equipment with the second user equipment is satisfied,wherein processing circuitry is configured to receiving, from the basestation, first configuration information that identifies an acquisitionmanner of transmission resource, wherein the first configurationinformation is included in a radio resource control (RRC) signaling andcomprises one of a first value or a second value, wherein the firstvalue identifies that the acquisition manner is a base station scheduledmanner where the transmission resource is scheduled by the base stationto the user equipment, wherein the second value identifies that theacquisition manner is a user equipment selected manner where the userequipment selects the transmission resource from a configured resourcepool or a resource pool list; and acquiring, from the base station,information identifying the configured resource pool or the resourcepool list via the RRC signaling or a system information block (SIB). 12.The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein in a case that theacquisition manner being the base station scheduled manner, thecircuitry is configured to receive, from the base station, thetransmission resources on unlicensed band scheduled by the base stationbased on a priority or a delay requirement of sidelink data, and performthe sidelink communication with the transmission resources on unlicensedband.
 13. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein theconfigured resource pool or the resource pool list comprisestransmission resources on both of unlicensed band and licensed band, ina case that the acquisition manner being the user equipment selectedmanner, the circuitry is configured to select the transmission resourceson unlicensed band to perform sidelink communication, based on apriority or a delay requirement of sidelink data to be transmitted. 14.The electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the circuitry isconfigured to conduct Listen Before Talk on the unlicensed band, if thenumber of failures in Listen Before Talk on the unlicensed band exceedsa threshold, the circuitry is configured to change to select thetransmission resources on licensed band to perform sidelinkcommunication.
 15. The electronic device according to claim 13, whereinthe processing circuitry is further configured to communicate with thebase station on the unlicensed band, and to perform the sidelinkcommunication with the second user equipment by sharing a channeloccupancy time of the unlicensed band resources to be occupied by boththe Uu link and the sidelink communication.
 16. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 14, wherein the number of failures comprises a numberof subframes for which Listen Before Talk fails within a previous timewindow having a predetermined length.
 17. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 12, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to receive, through a Physical Downlink Control Channel(PDCCH), second indication information that identifies the unlicensedband resource for the sidelink communication.
 18. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 11, wherein the user equipment operates as a relayuser equipment, and the other user equipment operates as a remote userequipment, wherein the remote user equipment receives information fromthe base station via the relay user equipment.
 19. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 11, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to receive zone configuration information that includes azone identifier and unlicensed band resource enabled zone list to selectthe unlicensed band resource based on a comparison of a current locationand the zone configuration information.
 20. A method performed by anelectronic device at a user equipment side in a wireless communicationnetwork, comprising: acquiring control information from a base station;and performing a sidelink communication with another user equipmentbased on the control information if a condition for performing asidelink communication by the first user equipment with the second userequipment is satisfied, wherein the method further comprises receiving,from the base station, first configuration information that identifiesan acquisition manner of transmission resource, wherein the firstconfiguration information is included in a radio resource control (RRC)signaling and comprises one of a first value or a second value, whereinthe first value identifies that the acquisition manner is a base stationscheduled manner where the transmission resource is scheduled by thebase station to the user equipment, wherein the second value identifiesthat the acquisition manner is a user equipment selected manner wherethe user equipment selects the transmission resource from a configuredresource pool or a resource pool list; and acquiring, from the basestation, information identifying the configured resource pool or theresource pool list via the RRC signaling or a system information block(SIB).